


The Cavern Abyss

by Cv_Cuse



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Denial, Drug Use, F/M, Flashbacks, Hallucinations, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, pop culture references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-10-25 04:30:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20718125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cv_Cuse/pseuds/Cv_Cuse
Summary: Sebastian makes a dangerous decision to search for his missing spouse within the Skull Cavern where she is proclaimed to be deceased; all the while risking the possibility of not seeing his baby daughter again if he never makes it out alive. Will he learn the truth of his spouse's apparent disappearance? Or will his body lie in the same place?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I had this in mind ever since I started playing Stardew Valley again. Mostly inspired by Dante's Inferno/The Decent so it's going to  
be a suspense type of genre. :> There will be some made up monsters along the way based from the ones from the Mines so it's going to be lore friendly.  
The following chapters will change slightly if I see an error anywhere.
> 
> The farmer is named Ira in this story, originally named after my farmer character because searching for another name is exhausting. :'> I hope you all enjoy the story. Stay Golden! <3

“Sebastian! Are you sure you want to do this!?” Sam exclaimed as he watched his best friend tightening the gauntlet straps all the while drawing a lava colored katana from the bed into its sheath on his belt. Sebastian literally looks like a warrior character from their DnD game nights, but this was certainly no game. This is real life. Sam is beyond apprehensive for his best friend. The countless research he has done during the following events, he found some leaked images of the creatures as well as Body Camera video by the SAR while they’re down there. He regretted watching them so late that night, it was like watching one of those found footage horror films but it was recorded by ****actual**** events. It was scary to even watch them all, he honestly had trouble sleeping as well; fearing one of those things will come through his window or swoop down on him at anytime when he is outside. “You gotta be crazy to even jump head first into the Skull Cavern. You shouldn’t go!”

“I’ve made my choice.” Sebastian snaps his head at him, his eyes were glaring at him but they didn’t speak ill of the blonde, his tone was even baseless. There were no signs of him second guessing himself, it was monotone, almost as if he doesn’t give a fuck anymore. "I've made up my mind a long time ago."

“But you can’t!” Abigail spoke as she approached him. “Sam’s right, you seriously need to think about this! We both know you are hurting so much right now, you’re not the only one that’s still in mourning ever since-” Abigail’s expression fell as her shoulders shook, trying to contain her voice from cracking but she need to say there fallen friend’s name. “..since Ira-”

“****Stop****.” Sebastian barked; Abigail flinched. “There is no way in __hell__ I will believe that for a single second any longer. She’s not dead she can't be.” He picks up some deep colored red spheres with a fuse attached to it, it was a bomb. Sam timidly backs up from him with his hands in front of him by instinct as the ravenette nonchalantly walks by them; exiting to the main room. “They haven’t found her, so how can they even know for certain? They haven’t found or any traces of her except for the already dead carcasses of those __things__ in the cavern. She’s got to be alive.” He says aloud Abigail clicks her tongue and follows after him, eventually stepping in front of him.

“..What if you’re wrong? You heard what Pam said; she had that green totem on her to which Ira explained to me that it teleports her right back to the farm, and I know you are aware of it as well. But look at where we are now.” Abigail gestured around her. The ravenette just look down at her then walks around to reach the kitchen table where his backpack is resting upon; placing the bombs in them before finally snitching the drawstring to the brim. She continues. “And it could be just those creatures doing that to each other for all we know considering that they have been locked up down there for more than 100s maybe 1000s of years. I know you’re in denial, but we have to accept the fact that she is gone-”

A hand slaps the table. Sebastian shot his head up and looks at her.

“What __else__ do you know? Huh?” Sebastian snaps as he turns to her.”Did you know Ira trains herself hard with a __real__ weapon before putting herself into danger to find just enough ores to provide for me and my daughter? I never liked the idea of her going down to such places and coming back with cuts and bruises all the damn time, but ****none**** of that never stops her despite of my warnings because she is a hell of a lot more braver than me and anyone else in this damn town that is cowardly enough not to deal with there own damn ‘slime problems’ for themselves!” A fist in his hand formed as he brought it down onto the table with a loud bang upon the last part, causing the flower pot on the center of the table to topple to the side. His brows were furrowed with anger and frustration as his fist is now beginning to shake; both from the impact and his nails digging into his palm, but he can’t feel none of those sensations right now beyond this point. “As far as I could tell; she is a hell of a lot more experienced than **_**_anyone_**_** of us combined! She has done so much for this town and now we’re just going to listen to whatever the authorities have to say and just accept it? Just like that!? Is __that __you want me to do!" His chest was heaving as he is nearly out of breath, eventually his breathing leveled and said one last thing. "And I thought you were her “sister.”

Upon hearing the last line it stuck Abigail’s heart more than anything. Her lips quivered even.

The trio went silent for a brief moment until a soft rumble resonated from the sky. It is about to rain soon. _....To be continued._


	2. Last Breakfest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did this have to be the day?

The sun peeked over the horizon as it beams over the sleeping side of the world with its blinding light; reaching a small valley in particular, Stardew Valley. The air was cool as the grass were glistening by the warm sunlight, it was raining heavily the night before which turned dirt into mud that gave off an earthy smell to it. Summer is coming to an end soon. Some of the trees were even beginning to slowly turn into the familiar golden orange leafs, indicating that Fall is near. At the farm of Pelican Town the sun rays shines through the insides of the house regardless of the curtains being drawn. Sebastian’s dark eyes showed through his eyelids and sees the ceiling but it was all a blur, he blinks them a couple of times before he reaches over to his phone on the dresser next to him, nearly knocking it over to the side but saved it just in time by pressing it against the wooden furniture. The ravenette didn’t realize he was gritting his teeth once he relaxed his jaw by safely retrieving the phone. An instant regret happened as he pressed the button, getting full blast of the brightness of the screen, blinding him so.

__"Nice going dumbass.." __Sebastian thought to himself, he blinks his eyes once more as he swipes down the setting menu to turn down the brightness. His visions finally became clearer as he looks at the screen. 6:00 a.m. He still finds it hard to believe that he is even able to wake up this early for the past 6 years because of one person. It really worked against his usual sleeping patterns considering he always gets up around 10 but he gotten used to the hours. He puts the phone back onto the dresser then turns over to his left side. The very face he only want to see every morning is there, Ira Stark, his wife.

Sebastian couldn’t hold back his smile every time he runs her last name over and over through his head. He did find it hard to believe that it was her last name when they first met but overtime he teased her about it but she embraced it, she is mostly enjoying Game of Thrones references. Hell she even named one of her farm animals of the characters. Damn he wished he has a last name like that, unfortunately, he has to stick with any other normal last names.

She is still asleep soundly next to him, snoring even, but the to the point where it could be annoying..yet. That counts for drooling too. But he wouldn’t care, it just means she is sleeping good after her hard work at the farm she tends to ever since she moved here. Which reminds him of the time that one year where he, Ira, Sam, and Abigail were black out drunk at Zuzu City for New Years at a pretty good hotel that Ira booked for all of us to stay in; way before Sebastian and Ira decided to tie the knot. They all felt bad that she did that for them, but Ira insisted, saying ‘we all deserved it’, followed by ‘a good possibility that movie writers will write about us’. He held back a chuckle with a grin spreading widely across his face. All they ever did was drink, eat, get high, drink, thew up, kicked out from a bar, then drink again. Those nights were pretty wild, he would like to relive again just for the fun of it. The hangovers were hell though.

After his longing tired stare, he watched her make some small noises as she snuggled against the pillow, this usually meant that she is about to wake up soon. Sebastian was aware that she should get up get up at this time, but knowing the hard work that she has done for yesterday on the crops so late at night he wanted to let her sleep a little longer. Sebastian pushes the dangling strain of her dark blue locks off of her face then closes in to plant his lips on her forehead. Once withdrawing away he slowly gets up from the bed and carefully slides off the bed, not wanting to disturb her sleep, but it only got the attention of her cat, named Bast, that is lying on the foot of their bed. The feline was tired as well as she stretched with a wide yawn then walks over to his side of the bed and began pawing at his pillow before lying down while looking at the ravenette with squinted eyes. Sebastian rolls his eyes. This cat always does this to him every time he leaves a spot anywhere in the house, that even includes the chairs in the kitchen. The ravenette mouthed ‘fuck you’ before exiting the room.

He walked out of the room successfully, but he has check upstairs to do one last thing. The dim lighting was enough for the ravenette to see within the house despite the lack of lighting on the inside but he still has to feel his way around with very slow steady steps. Last time he mindlessly went about the house was during a blackout three years ago and stubbed his toe, badly; it left him permanently scarred, figurative and literally. Sebastian shudders at the vivid memory.

Sebastian has made his way to the top of the stairs carefully with slow steps then took a right to the nursery room and is met with the bluish hue of the room which made everything seem lighter compared to the rest of the house which is astonishing that the infant hasn’t woken up from it yet. He took a few steps further in the room towards the crib and sees his infant daughter, Luna sleeping soundly. She made soft coos with her mouth parted open as if she is going to snore any second and her blanket with unusual patterns has been kicked off, much like her mother.

He watched Luna move slightly all the while rubbing her eyes and making small noises as if she were about to cry out for them. He thought he had spoken too soon until she let out a small yawn then opens her eyes and sees her father there, she paused only for a moment until her eyes grew heavy again and quickly went to sleep.

Sebastian let out a small huff through his nose along with a smile, he can see a little part of himself in her as well. Stroking her little head he pulls the multicolored blanket over her small frame then he takes his leave downstairs to make breakfest.

◈◈◈

The sun seem to have risen overtime but it is only a quarter away from 7:00. Perhaps it’s always been like that, Sebastian doesn’t really keep track of it anymore considering he is more focused on prepping good morning meal. Admittedly, Sebastian never cooked any proper food for anyone nor himself unless it was easy making at his own pace, or rather he owed it to his mom when he promised her break fest or dinner over something; all he ever lived on was skipping out on meals he disliked and snack on chips, ramen, and soda almost everyday. Making his own food were rare occasions. it even impacted his body negativity. Those were his unhealthy diets back then. Of course he still does that with Ira and his friends but thankfully it is not as frequent anymore, and it was all thanks to Ira.

Without her who knows what road he could have gone to. Sebastian would’ve stopped at any given point in time on his own, but he later on he realized that he ****is**** indeed stubborn to the core to ever listen to his own consciousness at the time, he probably would not have listen to any advice if it weren’t for her to call him out on the matter.

Once Sebastian flips one side of the omelette into a fold he heard footsteps approaching from the far side to his right. He take his time to bring the it onto the plate then looks over to sees Ira there.

Ira’s form was slouched as if she is about to fall asleep standing up as short dark blue hair were messy it almost covered her eyes, Sebastian let out a chuckle. He thought he have the baddest of bad hair days since his hair is longer than hers. She is also wearing an over-sized gray shirt that just reach over her mid-thighs that has some unique geometric patterns that represents space. A gift from Abigail from what he can remember. And finally, he sees Ira opening her eyes and sees her piercing hazel green eyes through her tired eyelids.

She let out a long yawn all the while stretching her arms over her head as her bones popped within the process then let out a relived sigh. “..Good mornin’ Sebby.”

“Morning to you too, dear.” Sebastian replies back as he turns his attention back to the stove. “You definitely slept good last night.”

“I wasn’t snoring weren’t I?” Ira questioned, she pulled the handle of the fridge door then takes out a jug of orange juice and brought it to the table. “Cause if I did.. I’m not sorry” She added, almost sounding too confident. Sebastian clicks his tongue.

“No, thank Yoba.” He glances at her then back at the pan. “You practically went out like a light last night; falling face first into the pillow too no less. It was.. comedic in a way.”

“That’s what happens when I ran around the fields back and forth.” Ira sighs at the thought. Hauling all of those farmed goods all the way back and up to the shipping box was quite a workout, that also includes the greenhouse. It was her natural routine that she has made for herself once in every few months; she gathers the goods from her crops then separates them to the least to greatest quality the had picked. And then save them all away into a box until the end of a season is near. It was all thanks to those little Junimos for guiding her up until now.

“...Didn’t you help me yesterday?” Ira asked Sebastian. She stops at mid-pour into her glass as she gazed up at an unknown corner of the ceiling as she tries to remember, her mind even faded at the beginning of her sentence.

“Yes, I actually did for a while until you managed to take everything you had into a wheelbarrow ran off with it like a mad woman. I only took two trips to the box.” The ravenette replied with a scoff. Ira pauses then made a dumbfounded smile.

“..Oh right!” She drinks her juice before setting it down.

“If your memory is __that__ vague, then maybe you should consider taking a break for once, you’ve been dozing off more often.” He pointed out. “I just don’t want you to exhaust yourself.”

The farmer smiles softly at her spouse, she rest her lower back against the counter next to him with her glass of juice in hand. “I know. But I still got work to do for that month and you know that. My corn fields are already tall, and soon enough after we harvest them we’ll finally have a corn maze all to ourselves for Halloween!”

“Please don’t tell me you talked to Jodi and Marnie into borrowing the kids to be part of the attraction.”

Ira paused all the while staring at him blankly with an arched brow as if he said something unbelievably stupid. A couple of seconds had passed before Ira was the one to break the silence by a single snicker then to a full on laugh.

“Noo no no no no no!” She waves her hand in defense. “I __did__ consider the idea! But I’m pretty sure neither of them would be all too jazzed about that plan. Unless I have a talk with Shane and Sam’s dad about it, he owes me a favor from that one year with the Starfruit. That also inc__ludes Shane about his homemade Joja mart commercial. Oooh! Maybe I can ask Abigail and Emily to join in as well, their last years costumes were pretty great, although Emily was a very colorful clown__\--”

“Ira, catch a breath! I was only kidding.”

“Oops.. I didn’t realize.” The farmer inhales a bit to bring the air back into her lungs as she takes a quick swig of her juice to moisten her dry mouth. “But __were__ you “kidding”?? Cause that seems like such a great idea!”

“Heh it was a joke to your understanding, but if you are considering it, then have at it.”

“I’ll take that idea to consideration then. And it’s all thanks to you!” Ira approaches the ravenette with glee plants her lips upon his own before departing. “Looks like I have more work to do then~ Anyway I should go and get Luna up right now.”

Ira waves him off before she slaps his ass with a good smack, startling Sebastian. He made a quick turn with his arm extended outwards to Ira, but she has ran away in time before his hand had the chance. He couldn’t hold back his laugh at this point.

**◈◈◈**

The small family is sitting at the table now. Sebastian is sitting at the head of the table as Ira sits at the side along with their daughter in between them in a stool. Luna was still half asleep, cranky even, but her face had lit up once his spouse has laid a bowl full of her own homemade baby food that she had made. He has yet to learn that recipe from her even if he had watched her make it countless times, but no matter on how hard he tries to make one by himself it always end up tasting bad. It just made it clear that he has a lot to learn.

It was casual silence other than Luna’s babbles for only a minute until Ira sets the spoon back into Luna’s bowl to eat then said something that Sebastian didn’t quite pick up on. His eyes shot up from his mug of coffee to Ira with a dumbfounded look. She then made a look as if she was waiting for him to answer. But lo and behold, he didn’t listen.

“Um.. what?” Sebastian says somewhat awkwardly. Ira rolls her eyes then smiles.

“I said; are you ready for the Moonlight Jellies tonight? Aaand if that wasn’t enough, this will be Luna’s first year to see them!” She said all the while pinching softly at Luna’s cheek. She had her spoon in her mouth looks at her mother with a puzzled look then goes back into eating. Luna might not remember it at such an early age, but the thought of having their baby see the bright blue glows of the jellyfishes under the night sky and in the dark waters would be memorable to see.

“Oh right, I completely forgot about that.” He acknowledges. “I just can’t wait for this summer to end soon and have the cold, damp season to roll in. 

“And yet you say I’m the one forgetting things.” Ira teased as she nudged his leg with her foot.

“Pfft! Yeah right. That was nothing compared to you, and besides you’re more forgetful than I am.”

“Nuh uh!” Ira replies in a childish tone as she cuts a big piece of the omelette and shoves it into her mouth. “I got schedules written down and I got reminders already set on my phone.”

“Oh please, that doesn’t count.”

“Since you have __everything__ in memory; when was the day I asked you out?”

“September 22nd, Hobbit Day.”

“.....Trick question. I completely forgot.” Ira admitted rather bluntly.

Sebastian could not help but chuckle at her forgetfulness, let alone a fictional holiday that they both enjoy along with Sam and Abigail. Such fucking nerds they are. “Then maybe you should put that info on your phone next time.. or you can hand it over so I can do it for you. __Just in case you forget.__”

His hand extended towards her phone, nearly within his grasp until she swipes it in time to unlock her phone screen then moves her fingers around in a swift motion before setting it back onto the table. Luna took notice then made some small babbles, such an innocent bystander.

“Done and done!” She huffs then added a sigh. “Anyway we got off topic. __Dance of the Moonlight Jellies__. Everyone finally decided to do a cook out for the event at 6:00. I heard they will be having some sushi platters there~”

“Yeah it has been for the last 12 months. You can finally celebrate to your hearts content while you are a it.”

“Ohhh yes! I’ve been dying for a mix drink so bad since Abigail teased it right in front of me when we brought Luna home. Mayor Lewis will just have to worry about us wrecking the whole town while we’re at it~”

“Well, he can just look the other way and shove it. The old geezer relies too much on you for his “personal” reasons .”

Ira curls her lips then let out a disgusted groan. “Ughh.. I know, that fucking creep.” She replies upon finishing her juice and eating the her last of her omelette and hashbrowns. “Seriously! I mean, why can’t he just go to a sex shop like any other grown adults do? Oh right… ‘can’t have his self image look bad’.” The farmer added with annoyed old man impression with an annoyed tone.

Out of everything that Sebastian had just heard, he quickly lost his appetite. Maybe he should’ve kept his mouth shut so he could have enjoy his meal in peace, but she is indeed right about the Mayor; he is just taking advantage of her due to her being related to her grandpa and all of the easy access he can get away with. “He thought wrong for expecting so much from you just because your grandpa was all buddies with Mayor Lewis. You’re your own person, Ira. I’m just surprised you haven’t busted him yet.”

“It will happen sooner or later, I can promise you that. Once he ask one more revolting favor from me again that is. Can we get off of this subject now? I don’t want to think about that wrinkly old ass flashing in my mind all day today.”

“Way ahead of you, honey.” He agrees.

The farmer gathers her plate and sets them into the sink before approaching back to their room to get dressed for the day. “I should go to work on the fields now. At the meantime, I’ll prep up so__me Crab Cakes for the festival when I get the time__.” Ira says aloud once her voice have faded in the background.

“Sounds good. I’ll--” Sebastian stops talking as he looks over at Luna when he felt something wet hit his arm. As he expected, her face is completely covered by baby food as well as her hands. The small infant just looks up at him then smiles with no care in the world. He let out a drawn out sigh. “..I’ll just go give Luna a bath.”

“Good luck with that. I’m off! I love you!” He heard the door slam shut afterwards, which made him look over his shoulder at pure bewilderment from the fast change of pace.

Before he could say anything, she was already gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished with chapter 1! :> This chapter feels shorter compared to my actual format which is why it took so long. Sorry if I left everyone with the prologue for a good while, I was too busy bringing up ideas for future chapters. Hope you all can understand that;; I may have rushed my writing so I might look over any errors once I get the chance. I hope you readers enjoy!
> 
> Note: I REALLY did not know Hobbit Day was a thing! ;A; I am more than willing to celebrate it next year! Anything for second breakfest!

**Author's Note:**

> The prologue may change due to wording checks.
> 
> Chapter 1 is currently within the making!


End file.
